There have many people asking me why I decided to run for town council? I’ve been a nurse for almost 30 years, raised four children with my husband, and a grandmother of 11 grandchildren, many whom attend Marlboro public schools- so why would I decide to run now? Well, the question really should be is why shouldn’t I run? After a rewarding career as a registered nurse, I felt it was time to give back to my community and continue my dedication of service to others.

So, when I hear and read statements and allegations that are applied to me, or my running mates that are factually incorrect, I have no choice but to make the record clear.

First and foremost, I and my running mates believe that raising taxes continually over the past 4 years while raiding the town’s surplus and encumbering our children with the responsibility for paying back all the debt that we have amassed is wrong. Additionally we believe that we must strengthen our efforts to preserve open space, this goes a long way towards making Marlboro a well desired community to live in. Any program that unnecessarily takes over open space or allows a builder to be awarded a deal that does not require them to pay property taxes for 35 years is outrageous and something we will fight against.

We have an administration that has allowed tens of thousands of dollars in engineering fees although we have an “in-house” engineer, hundreds of thousands of dollars for lawyers- yet the majority of the COAH lawsuits against the township are still active- and has awarded thousands of dollars in no-bid contracts for a sitting council member’s husband.

That is why I am running; to correct what is wrong with our local government and current administration. I expect my opposition to spin their record to make them look good, but what I don’t appreciate is my (our) platform being misrepresented or fabricated by sitting elected officials who have nothing but themselves and higher office aspirations in mind.

for the most part, to worry about “open space” in that town, the rather crooked developers had their way with much of the formerly rural and lovely place, but, do admire the 3 “R” candidates for trying to stop the “cute” boy ( “you know I’m really a Republican”- like his dad, when it suits),and his regime,from sending even more folks into foreclosure..not likely to make it, though, their registrations have pretty much unfortunately gone over to the D’s for years, plus, have always maintained that a town with too may Superfund sites has something in the water that makes the majority of the people plain wacky- there are at least two others who are always fighting and tearing each other up, both sides of the aisle!…a real tough town, for sure, though I hope the lady and her runningmates can drag out some fed-up taxpayers, to give them a shot!..

As a former owner of a home in Marlboro and later in Holmel for 20+ years it is refreshing to learn that Marianne Longobardi and colleagues are leading the way towards sanity in taxes, preserving open spaces and honesty in local government. We now live in Las Vegas, NV where to date, taxes have been kept under control and limited by the State Legislature. Electing Longobardi will help to do the ame for local Marlboro government.

35 years no taxes on an apartment complex for 250 units. That is a crazy proposal. Mayor claims only 50 kids will live there so that the tax burden on the school district will only be $600,000. Where will that money come from? Higher taxes.

@ Charles M…really? Government controlled land? Isn’t that a little bit too extreme? Have you been to Marlboro? Route 9, 520, a mess! Open Space maintains a quality of life that’s different than most places. Go to Middlesex County or to Hudson County where open space is minimal if at all. See the difference then make a comment about open space. And btw, I remember seeing you’re ad on this site not too long ago for Ice Cream. Do you go to any soccer fields and or baseball fields? If so, guess who “owns” them? That’s right, you’re profiting from that “government controlled land” Really think before you speak.

I love open space, however different branches of Government own 1/3 of the land in NJ (which is about on par with the national average). I’d say this is just about enough. Yes, Hudson County is super-crowded, but the Southern part of the State is almost all open spaces.

Also, don’t forget that the supply of land is limited, so the less supply, the higher the prices will get.